Four women who used to work for Nike Inc filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the company violated state and US equal-pay laws and fostered a work environment that allowed sexual harassment.
The suit filed on Thursday in Portland, Oregon, is among the first to hit the company since complaints about pay and bad managers became public earlier this year, the Oregonian reported.
Nike, based near Portland, responded to the controversy by ousting at least 11 executives earlier this year.
However, Nike continues to have a “good old boy’s” culture in which women enter the company with lower pay and receive smaller raises and bonuses, said attorney Laura Salerno Owens, who filed the lawsuit.
“I think Nike wants to say that ‘Just a couple people were responsible for the problem and we’ve gotten rid of them,’ but we know that’s certainly not the case,” Owens said.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order requiring Nike to pay its employees fairly without regard to gender.
Nike officials declined comment on the lawsuit.
Plaintiff Kelly Cahill worked for Nike for four years — much of that time as a brand marketing director for Nike.com.
She said in the lawsuit that she was paid US$20,000 a year less last year than a male coworker doing much the same job.
She filed four complaints against her boss — one of the 11 executives who left the company last spring, she said.
Nike’s human resources department took no action, the suit alleges.
Cahill quit and went to work for Adidas AG.
Sara Johnston alleged that a male coworker made sexual advances and retaliated when she rejected his propositions.
She complained to her boss in early 2016.
“In response, one of the directors said, in effect, that Nike has a culture that revolves around alcohol; that Ms Johnston should let the incidents go,” the lawsuit said.
The situation escalated after Johnston said that she had learned that the same coworker was propositioning other women and had groped another.
She again tried to lodge a complaint with human resources, but the department took no action and the male coworker was promoted to a position where he would work more closely with Johnston, who decided to quit, the suit said.
The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Samantha Phillips and Tracee Cheng.
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